“Come in.”
He opened the door quietly and walked in. The woman hung up the phone and got up, a brilliant smile swept across her face. Her beautiful face.
“Hello, you must be Adam. I’m Jeanette Foster. The new Chief Auditor of Operations.” She stepped from behind her desk and reached out to shake his hand.
“Yeah…Adam….Strathmore,” he barely croaked out. Va-va-va-voom! His crew wasn’t just talking this time. This woman in every sense of the word was drop dead gorgeous.
He took her hand, but kept his eyes focused on her. All of her. From her head to her feet. She was tall, at least five ten. Stacked! It’s been a long time since he’s seen a woman with real curves like this. Now he would admit, his thirty-five years hasn’t exposed him to every woman on the planet. But it seemed every woman he met at the company gym, or at work, seemed more focused on having a hard, lean, body more than him.
Her skin coloring reminded him of a rich cup of coffee, with just a dollop of creamer. Even with the hair pulled back, the thick black ponytail hung below her shoulder blades. Her face heart shaped and her large round hazel eyes were dazzling.
Adam found himself moving closer to her, her hand still in his. Her mouth pulled at him. Those full, burgundy lips called to him. And damn it, if he didn’t want to answer.
In that brief moment, a vision of him and her on the floor of her office having buck wild sex played in his mind. The thought of them naked together made his groin ache. He never had a reaction this fast to any woman.
“Mr. Strathmore?”
Adam shook his head, when he realized that Miss Foster had been calling him. “Huh?”
“I asked if that’s my new laptop.” She pointed downward.
He looked under his arm. “Oh yeah. And please….call me Adam.” He finally let go of her hand. “I’m here to set things up for you.”
“Great, I want to get started as soon as possible.”
“That’s what I’m here for Miss Foster.”
“Please, call me Jeanette. Miss makes me feel old.”
“I don’t think anything could ever make you feel old. You’re an exquisite looking woman.”
Before anyone could react to his words, they both stood there looking at each other, while what sounded like her cell phone rang in the background.
Chapter Two
Jeanette heard the faint ringing of her cell, but was hard pressed to move from her spot. Did he just tell her she was exquisite?
And speaking of beauty, what she gazed at on her end wasn’t exactly painful. This man was absolutely stunning.
Adam. The name fit him, because he had to be what God had in mind when he made man.
He had an extra five inches on her. The clothes he wore emphasized a great body. The beige cable knit sweater hugged his muscles just right, showing off a powerful chest and great muscular arms. His jeans were snug, but barely containing powerful long legs.
And that face. Long, dark brown, wavy hair touched his shoulders and hung over his right eye. His strong features held a hint of a five o’clock shadow that emphasized dimples and a strong jaw. His greenish gray colored eyes mesmerized, they seemed to look right through you.
His presence was that of a brawny, outdoorsman.
No, that’s wasn’t right. When Jeanette first laid eyes on him, the only thing he exuded was, “I am man. I will hoist you over my shoulder, take you to my cave and fuck you into a frenzy.”
Damn, if she didn’t want him too.
Her cell rang again, this time snapping her out of her stupor. “I have to get that, excuse me.”
She searched in her bag, not once taking her eyes off of Adam. She stayed at the back desk while he was at her workstation. He started setting things up in front of her. His back even looked hot.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Nette. How’s the new job going?”
It was her cousin Renee. “I just started today. I’m not even set up on the network yet.”
“So do you want to do lunch?”
“Sure.”
“What time?”
“Let me check something first.” She walked over to Adam, who was now on his knees hooking up all kinds of wires. She tapped him on the shoulder. Instead of turning around, he stood up to his full length and looked down at her. His smile was disarming and those eyes! Lord, a woman could fall under his spell if she wasn’t careful.
“Yes,” he said, shifting a little closer to her.
“I just wanted to know if there was anything you need me for, my cousin is coming over for lunch.”
“No, not at the moment. But you and I need to get together soon. I have some things I need to teach you.”
He gazed at her for what seemed like forever, then went back to his task.
She bet he could teach her some things. She got back on the phone with Renee. “Okay, I’m free.”
“Cool, see you at noon.” She disconnected.
Jeanette sat down in a chair near the window. She didn’t want to be in his way while he worked.
That wasn’t true. She didn’t want to combust and become a pile of ashes in her chair being so near him. This man oozed nothing but sex.
She’d worked in many offices and dealt with her share of IT people. None of them looked like this or had this affect on her. Let’s face it, most IT guys were geeks that played video games and sometimes took on the personalities of the characters, like wizards and gnomes.
Adam stood up and patted his pockets. “Looks like I forgot something. I’ll be right back.” He went towards the door, then stopped. By the way, remind me to give you a FOB, to lock and unlock you laptop.” He reached in his pocket and took out a pen. He wrote on a Post-it. “We have Wifi and firewalls and all that great stuff too, but we believe in backup here.”
She nodded.
“Shy? Cat got your tongue”
“Who me?”
“Yeah. I was hoping you sat closer to your laptop while I was setting things up. You wouldn’t have been in the way. Besides, there’re some things I need to go over with you later before I train you. And I thought we might get to know each other better…since we’ll be working together.”
“Oh, sure. I’ll wait for you to come back.”
He smiled at her and turned to walk away, but stopped again before he got all the way out in the hall. “By the way, I need to be with you one on one for your training. You see, before you came here, I taught classes for the new program. So do you do early mornings or after work?”
Jeanette thought anytime. “Um…I’m an early morning person.”
“Okay, the training takes an hour and half. What are your hours, or do you set you own?”
“They’re whatever I want, but officially I start at eight.”
“Then six thirty it is.”
“That’s not too early for you? I mean, I could….”
“It would never be too early or too late to work with you.” With that, he left for his office.
Jeanette sat there, feeling warm and fuzzy—and hot!
It was exactly noon when Renee arrived at the office. Jeanette told the receptionist, that when she arrived send her straight to her office. Adam was back working on her station.
She did sit next to him, but very few words were spoken. He occasionally took a breather from being under her desk and looked up at her. The stares he gave her were not that of a co-worker, but a man making his claim. She could feel it, almost touch it.
“Okay, I think I’m going to head out to lunch myself. Jake is looking for a router, which is what I need before I continue. Like I said, we’re a bit old fashioned, however we got a cool GPS for you laptop too.”
“Wow, with all this backup and old school and techie stuff, how is all the stuff disappearing?” Jeanette asked.
“That’s the million dollar question.”
“Oh. When do you think I’ll be up and running?”
“Later this afternoon. I’ll try to walk you through a few things before tom
orrow morning just so you can get…the feel of everything.”
Maybe it was just her imagination, but she could swear when he said the feel of everything, he wasn’t talking mouse clicks on links.
He walked out of the office and as he was leaving, Renee bumped into him—literally.
“Oops! I’m….sorry.” Jeanette could see Renee almost drooling over herself.
“That’s okay,” he said.
“Renee, this is Adam, head of IT. Adam this is my cousin, Renee.”
“Hello.” He shook her hand then left.
Renee stood there rooted in place, her hand still in the air, looking at him as he walked down the hall. Jeanette clapped her hands to get her attention.
“Huh? Oh, hey Jeanette.” She walked in closing the door behind her. “What was that?”
“That, is Adam. He’s head of IT. Remember, I just introduced you.” Jeanette snickered.
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope.”
“Chile, he looks like he should be in the jungle swinging from a vine and having wild sex with—”
“Please!” Jeanette put her head in her hands. “I don’t need that visual now. In fact, I don’t need any help with scenarios.”
“Oooh, you’re thinking nasty thoughts of the IT dude.” Renee teased.
Renee was quick, but then she was a private investigator. Of course, Jeanette was also being all too obvious. She needed to watch that. “You can’t help it. If you looked up orgasm in the dictionary, they’d have his picture in there.” Oh, that was good.
“I know that’s right. You’re one lucky lady.”
“How so?” Jeanette got up and grabbed her purse and jacket.
“How so? You’re working with a man that can turn a lesbian’s head.”
“You’re forgetting a few things missy.” They walked out into the lobby and waved goodbye at Paula, who happened to be on the phone—her personal cell phone that is. She spent more time on that than the main reception phone.
“What’s that?” Renee pressed the down button on the elevator.
“He’s my co-worker and from the looks of him, he’s quite a bit younger than me.”
The elevator arrived and they got on. There were people already on, so the conversation stopped there, until they got off.
“Nette, people are dating co-workers all the time. And as far as age goes, you don’t look a day over thirty-five. You’re a beautiful woman, no one would even notice your age difference. And that’s the thing now.”
Great. The last thing Jeanette wanted to be known as around the office was a cougar. “Thanks for the complement. Ironic you should say that, he said I was an exquisite looking woman.”
They reach the parking lot and Jeanette handed the attendant the keys to her car. Renee jerked her by the shoulders to face her. “What is it?” Jeanette asked, looking at her cousin as though she lost her mind.
“He stood there and told you to your face that you were exquisite? What more of an invitation do you need woman?”
“Please Renee. I think he was just giving me a kind complement. You know I’m new. He’s just being friendly.”
“Uh-huh.”
“No uh-huh. I bet you he complements every woman at the company. And speaking of women, did you ever think that he could already have a slew of them?”
“Well….”
“He’s got playa’ written all over him,” Jeanette said. That left a nasty in her mouth. Why, she didn’t know. She reminded herself, he was a co-worker and much too young. She was not into office romances or babysitting.
But the idea of being draped over his shoulder while he swung through the trees to his cave was a nice fantasy.
***
Adam watched from his window as Jeanette and her cousin walked to the parking lot. He made sure he shut and locked his office door. He wanted this moment alone.
As soon as he entered his office, he turned on the air conditioning. It was late January and the temperature outside was barely hitting the mid forties. But in her office and his, the thermostat was set on smoking!
He literally tried to will the whole office into a meeting, just so he could have Jeanette all to himself. Any other time, they had meetings up the wazoo, sometimes two a day, and they were always held in the fourth floor conference room. Not a hint of one today.
But that was okay. He’ll have her tomorrow morning. At least have her for the purpose of training her. But that wasn’t going to be good enough. It wouldn’t be good enough, until he had her in his bed.
He shook his head and wiped his face with his hands. He never had a woman put his hormones through so many twists and turns. But Jeanette Foster wasn’t just another woman.
As he stood there watching them drive away, so many scenarios ran through his head. One favorite already, was him having her against the wall of her office, her luscious thighs wrapped around his waist as he plunged into her over and over. The image of her face in ecstasy, and the moans of pleasure spilling from her full burgundy lips, gave him the worse hard on he’s had in years.
As he played that picture over repeatedly, his hand found it’s way to his crotch. He squeezed hard, trying disparately to relieve the pressure. It only made things worse. He needed to come, and he wanted to come inside her.
He removed his hand and leaned his forehead against the window. This didn’t make sense. She was just a woman. How many has he had? True it’s been a while, going through a dry spell this past year, but that was his decision.
No matter. Jeanette would be his. Something about her drew him to her. What—he didn’t know or didn’t care. And if he wasn’t mistaken, he saw more than a bit of interest in her eyes. She didn’t exactly have an immunity shot to the chemistry that sparked between them. Adam smiled, knowing that the two of them getting together on a more intimate basis should be no problem.
Correction. There was a problem. He never dated co-workers.
Just like that; it all came back crashing down on him. He remembered all too well, the ugliness that transpired when he showed some interest in one of the art directors. Miriam. The women had their claws out and no one was untouched by the fallout.
Friendships were broken and people were transferred. He felt like shit. But after much thought, it wasn’t his fault. The relationship didn’t progress to more than conversations on the phone. He never even slept with her!
He didn’t want to relive that. It wasn’t worth it.
Someone knocked on his door. He mentally regrouped and opened it. It was Sam.
“Hey, there. How’s it going with Jeanette’s setup?” she asked, as she walked into his office.
“Fine so far. Jake drove to the other office to find the correct router. After that, she’ll be all set. I’ll train her early tomorrow morning.”
“Great. So what do you think of her?”
“Pardon?” Adam sat down at his desk and looked over some of the menus for lunch.
“What do you think of her?”
She sat there smiling harder than he’d ever seen. “She just got here, but I guess she’s okay.” More than okay he thought. Perfect for what he had in mind.
“Actually, I wasn’t talking professional wise.” Sam scooted up in her chair. “I mean, you know. I noticed a lot of the men here are whispering about her already, mainly how hot she is.” She rolled her eyes.
Sam was quick. The person that let her perky, blonde, hyper-ness, fool them….well, woe be to them. “Sam, you know I don’t pay attention to office gossip. She’s new meat; you know how these kids get. I can’t see what my opinion of her would add, except more gossip.”
Sam sighed and leaned back in the chair. “You’re right. I’m just a bit concerned. I don’t want the guys to get any ideas. She’s here to work, not to be hit on by the art staff.”
Adam laughed, then thought a moment.
These guys were kids, and he might as well put himself in the same category. He could tell she had a few years on him. Not by looks. T
here are twenty year olds that would kill for looks like hers. It was the way she carried herself. The things they talked about, when they did talk, in just that short of time in her office. He could tell he was dealing with an older woman. Plus he snuck and saw her resume.
That was okay in his book too. According to the polls regarding May/December relationships, they were compatible sexually.
God. Why did he have to think of them sweaty, naked and coming on his office floor?
Tomorrow morning couldn’t come soon enough.
Chapter Three
It was the next day, and Jeanette was a walking zombie. She arrived ten minutes early for her one on one with Adam. She looked at her watch; five fifty in the morning; and she felt it. She lied to Adam about being a morning person; the birds weren’t even up. Luckily, the deli downstairs opened even earlier. She had a thirty-two ounce of strong black coffee in her hand and her card key in the other.
Stepping into an empty workplace was strange, but she walked straight to her office and got settled.
The more coffee she drank the more awake and focused she became and the more she realized that she was going to be alone with Adam for ninety minutes. A part of her hoped someone might come in to get in a little early work. But she soon found out, that the people around here came and left according to the hours they were assigned. She found out yesterday through more discussions with Sam that no one did over time, which surprised her, since this was an ad agency and a huge one at that.
But Sam told her that the other offices worked around the clock in shifts. Their office took the first shift in the States, along with two others in Los Angeles, the one in Dallas and Washington State. Then the others would pick up where the other three left off. That way, no one got burned out. Even the Paris office helped with the early, early morning shift. That way if say Dallas had an ad that needed to be out in a week, instead of burning them out, Paris could pick up where they left off. Made sense and it was efficient.
Office Play: Freaky Geek Series Page 2